.:-:†§##@# #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## winds esker ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# ---------------------------------------- #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## there was this place that for two years ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ i couldn't go to. regardless how much @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# discussed with others, or pointed out #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## on maps, i could not think of it when ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# alone. i would often travel past the #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ fork, where a right turn would surely @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## take me there, but even then, something ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ kept me away. @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## when i finally got there, after some ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# heavy subconscious battle i must #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ assume, the place was surreal. an @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## esker, like a needle-thin rift out in ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ the lake, but ten meters high and @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# adorned in birch, willow, bracken, and #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## blueberries. ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ walking atop that spine, i came to @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## notice the view to either side. there ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ should be shores, of course, but i @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# didn't recognize them. first off, they #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## were much too close, as the lake should ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# stretch for a hundred meters more on #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ both sides. but now i felt i could @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## almost reach out and touch them. and ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ then, when i realized which shores they @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# were, i had to stop. #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# they were of the right lake. but this #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ lake is large, fractured, and @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## bipartite. like a pair of lungs carved ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ into the granite, and with no less than @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# five communities anchored at various #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## points. and so, studying these ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# impossibly close shores, i slowly #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ understood them as belonging many miles @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## away. ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# i examined the ridge, the treeline #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## above. was this what you saw opposite, ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# from those other shores? i couldn't #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ remember. @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ carrying forward, on the very tip of @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# the esker, i found the ruins of some #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## old building. there were overgrown ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# marble staircases, stone floors beneath #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ the moss, and strange slabs inserted @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## into the slope like dams against the ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ ground itself. @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## sitting there, i could see across the ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# narrowed lake my entire path to where i #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ sat: from the stairwell of my house, @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## through the old woods behind the tile ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ factory, the bridge over route @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# twenty three and then back under it, #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## through the fancy villas, over the ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# fields, and then that right turn at the #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ fork. @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ and then the stairs up on the ridge. @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# thinking back, this was probably it. #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## hidden in a grove, there were stairs ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# much like the ones i currently sat on, #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ old and worn down, that lead you up @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## onto the esker. the point of entry. had ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ i insted opted to walk the path at its @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# foot, i'm sure my experience would've #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## been different indeed. ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ ---------------------------------------- @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ on the lake, there were people in @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# boats. i wondered, could they even see #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## me? if i shouted, would they turn to ##@##§†:-:
.:-:†§##@# stare right through me? #@##§†:-:.
..:-:†§##@ @##§†:-:..
...:-:†§## ##§†:-:...
..:-:†§##@ @##§†:-:..
.:-:†§##@# #@##§†:-:.
:-:†§##@## ##@##§†:-: